Women's short program: Favored Kim Yu-Na soars into lead

Olympic women's figure skating gold-medal favorite Kim Yu-Na of South Korea lived up to the billing -- and shook off the heavy pressure -- in the short program Tuesday at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

The 19-year-old world champion was fabulous and nearly flawless, scoring 78.5 points -- an all-time world best -- to grab the lead entering Thursday's free skate.

Behind her are medal hopefuls Mao Asada (73.78) of Japan and Joannie Rochette (71.36) of Canada, who wowed the crowd with a brave performance two days after her mother died suddenly.

U.S. youngsters Rachael Flatt (64.64), the 17-year-old American champion, and 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu (63.76) performed well in their first Olympics and stand fifth and sixth.

The last skater of the night, Mikki Ando of Japan, the 2007 world champion, is in fourth place (64.76).

Earlier: Women's figure skating takes center stage tonight at Pacific Coliseum in the Vancouver Olympics, and the competition is expected to be full of compelling, inspiring and perhaps mouth-dropping moments. The heavy favorite is reigning world champ Kim Yu-Na, an icon in South Korea where she's known as "Queen Yu-Na."

Update, 11:54 p.m. ET: 2007 world champion Mikki Ando of Japan will close out the night.

From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Flatt hangs onto triple lutz. Whoa. That will get minus-GOE's from judges. ... AND THIS ... Flatt has added artistry and energy at the end. More to this program than at nationals.

Update, 11:41 p.m. ET: The U.S. champ, Rachael Flatt, is next.

Update, 11:37 p.m.: Maybe we spoke too soon about this becoming anti-climactic after the big performances by Kim Yu-Na (78.5) and Mao Asada (73.78). Rochette was spectacular, granted it was an emotional moment. For the judges, too.

From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Rochette gets 71.36 and is third. Blows kiss to the crowd, nods, says thanks. Sat back down in kiss and cry now. She's spent.

Update, 11:31 p.m. ET: Joannie Rochette, in tears, receives a huge ovation from the crowd. From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Ends in front of us. Bites lip. Crying. She did a great job. Hand on heart. ... AND THIS ... That is guts. Everyone standing. Will be a long time before that performance is forgotten.

Update, 11:28 p.m. ET: Canada's Joannie Rochette, two days after the sudden death of her mother, takes the ice to lead off Group 6. She gets a warm embrace from the home crowd. Has to be an emotional moment for her.

Update, 11:20 p.m. ET: Kim Yu-Na (78.5) and Mao Asada (73.78) are light years ahead of the field. Mirai Nagasu of the USA remains third (63.76), and the 16-year-old can finish no worse than eighth in the short program in her Olympic debut.

Canada's Joannie Rochette is on the ice with the other four skaters in Group 6.

Update, 11:18 p.m. ET: Alena Leonova of Russia closes out Group 5. Five skaters to go, after a warm-up. First up is Canada's Joannie Rochette, who ia a medal hope skating just two days after the sudden death of her mother. Also in this group are Rachael Flatt, 17, the U.S. champion, and another medal favorite, Miki Ando of Japan.

Update, 11:03 p.m. ET: From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Kim lands double axel. What a two-fer, Mao and Kim, back to back. That was something!

Update, 11:01 p.m. ET: From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Kim takes position. James Bond starts. ... AND THIS ... triple-triple great. triple flip beautiful, and that was a problem for her all year. Rising to challenge.

Update, 10:54 p.m. ET: Mao Asada of Japan opens with a triple axel/double toe loop. She lands the combo without any trouble.

Update, 10:51 p.m. ET: Laura Lepisto of Finland is finished. First her scores, and then here Mao Asada of Japan.

Update, 1o:45 p.m. ET: From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Imagine Brian Orser's pulse rate at the moment. Kim's coach, won silver in 1988 a few 100 miles away in Calgary. What pressure. ... AND THIS, ALSO FROM WARM-UP ... Asada lands triple axel, stuck the landing, but did land it.

Update, 10:41 p.m. ET: Get ready to lace up your skates. Group 5 is on the ice for warm-ups. First up is Laura Lepisto of Finland, followed by the heavyweight duo (of pixies) Mao Asada of Japan and Kim Yu-Na of South Korea.

Update, 10:30 p.m. ET: Group 4 is finished.There's a break to resurface the ice, then Group 5 will warm up. Second up in Group 5 is Mao Asada of Japan -- perhaps the silver medal favorite? -- followed by world champion and gold medal favorite Kim Yu-Na. Now we'll get a look at whether the heavy pressure will affect Kim.

From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: Sasha Cohen in the house. Talked to her on the bus ride over. She said strange to be coming to a short program without being nervous. AND THIS: After talking to #Sasha, walked into arena with #Tara Lipinski. She's been hanging around Van. for a week, she said.

"I think I made the smart choice," Nagasu said. "My landing was not the best, so it's good that I did the double."

It hasn't hurt her yet, but the top skaters are still to come.

Update, 10:10 p.m. ET: From USA TODAY's Kelly Whiteside on Twitter: More #Mirai: "I'm a little disappointed. I think the next Olympics, I'll know how to feel."

Update, 9:58 p.m. ET: More on Mirai Nagasu's bloody nose.

"I just felt it running down my nose," Nagasu said. "I said don't think about it, just keep going."

From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: More from my colleague Kelly Whiteside in mixed zone: bloody nose began halfway thru. Been getting them bec/ dry in rink. ... Amazing #Nagasu did as well as she did with that on her mind, especially during spins.

Update, 9:53 p.m. ET: First up in Group 4 is Elene Gedevanshvili of Georgia. She has a triple lutz, followed by a triple toe/triple toe combination early in her program. Clean landings on all. She scores 681,92 and moves into second.

But once again, she needs to be spectacular to catch the judtge's eyes.

From USA TODAY's Christine Brennan on Twitter: #skating Nagasu lands all her jumps

Update, 9:05 p.m. ET: The USA's Mirai Nagasu, 16, is on the ice in warm-ups. Her first Olympic experience will open with a triple lutz-double toe loop, followed bya triple flip. If she's clean through that, who knows.

From USA TODAY's Kelly Whiteside on Twitter: #Mirai is on the ice for warm-up, skating to music from Pirates of Caribbean and the waltz Fragile Dreams #skating #olympics

Update, 8:48 p.m. ET: 10 skaters have completed their programs. Ksenia Makarova, 17, of Russia leads at 59.22. It's time for a break to resurface the ice and then warm-ups for Group 3.

It's a big moment for American 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu, in her Olympics debut, first up in Group 3. She'll skate to the music of Piratesof the Caribbean. She'll need to be fast and nearly flawless to score well enough to be up among the expected leaders. Here's her chance.

USA TODAY's Reid Cherner says Nagasu has a chance for an upset medal. She's here, having fun and no one expects her to win. No pressure. A perfect time to shine.

Update, 8:25 p.m. ET: Ksenia Makarova of Russia, up next, has a triple toe-triple toe first up in her short program. The first of a handful of skaters who have that combo on the schedule.

Update, 8:16 p.m. ET: On the schedule, this event is known as the ladies' short program. Here's what USA TODAY's Christine Brennan has to say about that, on Twitter: By the way, let's dump this "ladies" stuff, unless we start calling the men "gentlemen." It's 2010. Dainty it ain't. Think Tonya H.

Update, 8:08 p.m. ET: Five skaters have completed their programs. Warm-ups next, then Group 2. Cheltzie Lee of Australia is the leader for now (52.16). Long way to go, but Lee, at 16 an Olympics rookie, looked good and happy after her skate,

Update, 7:57 p.m. ET: While we're waiting for the skaters of note ... The Ice Network website says the USA's Mirai Nagasu will attempt a triple-triple early in her program. USA TODAY's Kelly Whiteside says that's not the case.

Update, 7:50 p.m.: From USA TODAY's Kelly Whiteside on Twitter: First fall, second skater. But the night is young and ice is slippery.

Ivana Reitmayerova of Slovakia scored 41.94.

Update:7:45 p.m. ET: The first skater, Sonia Lafuente of Spain, has finished. There are 29 skaters to go. The USA's Mirai Nagasu is 11th on the program. The medal favorites (Kim Yu-Na, Miki Ando and Mao Asada) along with the USA's Rachael Flatt and Canada's Joannie Rochette, are in the final two groups.

Earlier: Besides the favorites, here are some other stories to watch:

Canada's Joannie Rochette, a medal hope who skates a tango just two days after the sudden death of her mother.

The USA's Rachael Flatt, 17, and Mirai Nagasu, 16, underdogs here, have been carefree ... but maybe they shouldn't be counted out. "I know Mirai and I are both incredibly excited to go out here and kick some butt," Flatt announced with a giggle after arriving in Vancouver.

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About Reid and Mike

Reid Cherner has been with USA TODAY since 1982 and written Game On! since March 2008.

He has covered everything from high schools to horse racing to the college and the pros. The only thing he likes more than his own voice is the sound of readers telling him when he's right and wrong.

Michael Hiestand has covered sports media and marketing for USA TODAY, tackling the sports biz ranging from what's behind mega-events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl to the sometimes-hidden numbers behind the sports world's bottom line.